Study: Fat Ponies Will Work for Food

Researchers found that some ponies are willing to exercise themselves … as long as there’s food involved.
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some ponies might be willing to work themselves … as long as there’s food involved. In an innovative study, researchers in Australia tested a novel dynamic feeding device and studied whether exercise alone could effectively decrease body fat. | Photo: Courtesy Dr. Melody de Laat
Roly poly ponies might be cute, but they’re at risk for a number of potentially life-threatening health conditions, such as equine metabolic syndrome and laminitis. Key to preventing obesity and its sequela are appropriate management strategies, including dietary restrictions and exercise. Of course, finding the time to exercise a pony—one that might be too small to ride—can be a challenge for some horse owners.

But it turns out, some ponies might be willing to work themselves … as long as there’s food involved. In an innovative study, researchers in Australia tested a novel dynamic feeding device and studied whether exercise alone could effectively decrease body fat.

Melody de Laat, PhD, BVSc, of the Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, and colleagues employed eight mixed-breed ponies with body condition scores (BCS) of five or greater (on a 9-point scale). The ponies consumed diets including lucerne (alfalfa) hay fed at 2% of body weight and a vitamin-mineral supplement divided into two meals. The researchers housed the ponies in individual drylot paddocks, each of which contained a custom-made dynamic hay feeder with two sliding doors that opened alternately on each side for five minutes. This allowed the ponies access to hay set in an internal hayrack, but required them to walk to the other side to continue feeding.

The team collected data on each pony when the dynamic feeder was on (alternating doors) and off (one door open, not forcing movement). De Laat and colleagues used GPS tracking devices to measure how far the ponies traveled each day. They also determined the ponies’ body weight, BCS, cresty neck score (CNS), and insulin sensitivity before and after each treatment phase. They collected percent body fat data only during the “feeder on” treatment

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Kristen M. Janicki, a lifelong horsewoman, was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and later attended graduate school at the University of Kentucky, studying under Dr. Laurie Lawrence in the area of Equine Nutrition. Kristen has been a performance horse nutritionist for an industry feed manufacturer for more than a decade. Her job entails evaluating and improving the performance of the sport horse through proper nutrition.

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